Accessible museum collections for the visually impaired: combining tactile exploration, audio descriptions and mobile gestures

Abstract

This paper describes an affordable approach and prototype system that can enhance the accessibility of museum exhibits to visually impaired users. The approach supports the navigation in exhibition halls and the tactual exploration of exhibit replicas using touch-sensitive audio descriptions and touch gestures on a mobile device. The required technology includes 3D printed exhibits, attached touch sensors, Arduino boards, and a respective mobile app. A preliminary usability evaluation with ten users (blind, visually impaired and blindfolded) revealed a positive user experience with satisfactory and similar performance.